RWBY: The Scattered Remnants
by OathToOblivion
Summary: Rewrite of Remnants of Worlds. Every world has its story, and the world of Remnant is no different. But in the aftermath of the war between masked heroes and the defeat of the enemy pulling the strings, scattered remnants of other stories have arrived in Remnant. How will their presence change the story?
1. Chapter 1

_**OathToOblivion**_ **: So, you may be wondering why we're going to the trouble of rewriting this, when we had barely begun the last one. ...Suffice to say, it's Joker's fault. Zero, you want to explain?**

 ** _Variable Zero_ : Well, to make a long story short, Joker wanted to change his character from Sasuke to Decade, which eventually caused me to change my character up (and reference Jacob Pendra-huth), and CRP and Conceptualist became too busy with RL, which resulted in me making OCs to fill up my own team...so yeah, I blame Joker for this as well.**

 _ **OathToOblivion**_ **: That's true too, but that's not what I was referring to. As you may or may not know, I was posting Remnants on Spacebattles too, and one of the commenters in the thread had a criticism that there was too much stuff going on at once. Upon reexamination, I was forced to agree. The main reason for redoing it was to tighten it up and not overload you guys, the readers. ...That, and I kinda wanted to change my character too. Only ones who _haven't_ are Stranger and CB, come to think of it. Zero's a borderline case in that he's still Kirito, just _another version_ of the guy. ...Am I rambling again?**

 ** _Variable Zero_ : Yes, yes you are. And if we truly are compacting things, then we'll have to worry about pacing and other such things. Though I'm sure we can handle this.**

 _ **OathToOblivion**_ **: Which is a bit weird coming from you since you were the one saying this was doomed to fail the first time. But enough about that, let's leap in!**

* * *

 _ **RWBY: The Scattered Remnants**_

 _ **Episode 01 - It Begins Again! The Keyblader and the White Kamen Rider!**_

A figure fell down from the sky, though it seemed more like he had crashed through water into the ocean. This was a young man who appeared to be around 18 years old, with ear-length black hair, brown eyes, and semi-tanned skin. He was dressed in a grey and dark brown high collared shirt, brown slacks, covered by a silver-lined black, knee length, short-sleeved coat, with golden shoulder guards, a red hood, and a pocket over his heart. He was also wearing custom gold, black and brown ankle boots with a metal guard on the shin, elbow length fingerless black gloves and golden wrist guards, and a brown and gold piece of armor over his right forearm. To finish his appearance, he wore two dark red intersect straps over his chest, and a crown shaped pendant around his neck. This young man had a tendency to call himself 'Shirou'.

As Shirou slowly came to, he idly noticed that his fall had become a slow decent, as if he were drifting underwater. In fact, it was almost as if he were underwater, yet he was somehow able to breathe. As his groggy mind started to fully awaken, he noted that he was finally came to a stop, feet first on what seemed to be the ocean floor. Once he had landed, he suddenly began to look around in confusion.

"W-what the-?!" the youth exclaimed. "Where am I?!" Shirou then took a single step forward, causing the floor to seemingly broke apart and nearly blinded him with light. Once his eyes adjusted, he noticed that what used to be the seafloor had somehow turned into an uncountable amount of white doves flying up into the darkness, giving the youth a great sense of deja vu.

Once he couldn't see the birds anymore, he looked down to behold an alarming sight. He beheld what appeared to be a giant glowing platform in a great expanse of darkness. The platform was a dark grey, several circles near the edge, each one containing a Fleur-de-lis, while there was a much larger circle at the upper center, containing seven circles within, the four visible ones containing faces of three girls, and a familiar boy with spiky hair. Underneath the large circle was what appeared to be a large floating steel structure, surrounded by clouds.

But what caught the youth's attention the most was the warrior resting as if asleep on the right side of the platform (and subsequently covering up the remaining three circles). Dressed in a long black coat, wielding a sword as black as midnight, with black hair and fair skin, was the unforgettable appearance of **Kirito** , the self-proclaimed **Death Beater**.

"Kirito," Shirou breathed out in shock. He then looked towards the structure. "Then that structure must be **Aincrad**!" The youth then looked towards the four familiar faces. "And those four are **Sora** , **Asuna** , **Yui** , and **Leafa**!" Shirou didn't know how to take this all in. He didn't think that this sort of place even existed, that maybe he was just hallucinating due to the fall! "What the hell is going on here?"

 ** _So much to do, so little time..._**

"Huh! Who's there?!" the youth demanded as he looked around for a source for the voice. After a few seconds, Shirou couldn't find a source, leaving him frustrated. Though when he thought about, the voice tinged a bit of familiarity.

 _ **Take your time. Don't be afraid. The door is still shut. Now, step forward. Can you do it?**_

"What do you mean? Where am I, and what's going on?!" Shirou demanded. He got no answer in return. "Answer me! Stop being mysterious and send me home!" Again he got no answer.

Shirou was understandably angry, but after a few tense moments he came to realize that it wouldn't do any good to remain in this position. He had two options, comply with the voice and do as it said, or he could remain standing in that one spot for eternity, getting no answers to his questions. "OK, fine," Shirou conceded. "I'll play your game until I get some answers."

As he complied with the voice and stepped forward, three trapezoid stones grew out of the ground around him, each one carrying a sword, staff, or shield respectively.

 _ **Power sleeps within you...if you give it form, it will give you strength. Choose well.**_

"I have to choose to continue?" Shirou exclaimed. "Why does this all seem so familiar?" After contemplating this for a moment, he decided to just walk up onto the pedestal with the sword and inspect it. He idly noticed that the weapon looked identical to Dark Repulser from Sword Art Online. Shirou attempted to move the blade, but for some reason he could not remove it from its floating position over the trapezoid stone.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Shirou yelled out before he plopped onto his rear and muttered angrily. After he calmed down again, he idly pointed his index finger towards the sword and seemingly felt a surface that wasn't there before. When he paid attention to that spot, he noticed what appeared to be a round circle with the icon for a magnifying glass. "What the heck?" He then pressed it, causing it to change into what appeared to be a floating screen. This obviously surprised him to the point of standing up and nearly falling off the pedestal.

After he managed to regain his balance, Shirou took a closer look at the screen and noticed a description:

 **The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is this the power you seek?**

 **-Yes/Let me think about it-**

"O-kay," Shirou commented. "Is this supposed to be some sort of game? Because so far I'm not enjoying it." After a bit more thought, Shirou chose the second option. He then decided to inspect the staff and shield (which looked like the Wavemaster Staff from .hack and Wolzard's Shield from Mahou Sentai Magiranger respectively) and noticed a similar pop up screen on each one.

 **The power of the mystic. Inner Strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. Is this the power you seek?**

 **The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. Is this the power you seek?**

"Yikes, this is overwhelming," Shirou admitted before reaching a conclusion. "From the looks of things, I choose one of these and it'll affect my future. And going by the 'choose well' comment, I won't be able to change this." He then looked back to the sword. "...I could really use some courage right now." With that thought in mind, the youth went up to the sword and pressed the yes option, causing it to disappear in a flash of light.

 _ **Your path is set. Now, what will you give up in exchange?**_

"What would I give up?" Shirou repeated. He then looked towards the other two items and thought upon the voice's words. Obviously, this decision would be just a decisive as the previous one, and just like that one he had no idea how the choice would effect him. Eventually, he decided to walk towards his choice and open its screen.

 **The power of the mystic. Inner Strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. You give up this power?**

"I think that I'm wise enough to know what will harm me and what won't, so yes," the youth answered. As he clicked the option, the staff disappeared just as the sword did. He then heard the voice once more.

 _ **You've chosen the power of the warrior. You've given up the power of the mystic. Is this the form you choose?**_

"Yes, now let's hurry this up!" Shirou answered impatiently as he jumped off of the pedestal. But just as he did, said pedestal along with the other two disappeared. Just as he noticed this, he heard a shattering sound beneath him. Before he could fully comprehend it, the floor shattered beneath him!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH-huh?!" The reason for his confusion was that he landed softly on his feet yet again, with no damage done. "Oi! Next time you send me to another platform, do it without me falling from the sky!" Once he calmed down, Shirou noticed that this platform's appearance was different(such as the blue shading instead of grey). Instead of Aincrad, he saw a futuristic city, and in the circles he beheld the faces of several different people. But more importantly, in the place of Kirito, this platform held the appearance of a boy with spiky blond hair in a long braid dressed in a strange blue outfit, wielding a gun in his left hand. This was the **Azure Striker** , **Gunvolt**!

"What the heck?" Shirou commented incredulously. "First Kirito, now Gunvolt? What's next, a Kamen Rider?" His attention was then taken by a flash of lights coming from his right hand, which then became a heavy weight that he was surprisingly able to hold. What was now in his hand was the weapon he picked out earlier, the Dark Repulser.

 _ **You have gained the power to fight.**_

"So, this is my weapon?" Shirou questioned. "How am I even able to hold this in one hand?" As he thought of taking an experimental swing with it, he unknowingly got into a fighting stance with his left foot forward, his sword arm back, and his left hand in front. He then took a sword swing, that lead into a second, then a third swing, with expert skill at that. "Huh?! Since when could I move like that?" After calming down, he proceeded to test out swinging again, this time paying attention so that his mind could catch up with his body.

The results were phenomenal. As he swung more and more, Shirou gradually began to bring his body's movements under his control, making the foreign fighting style his own. "Whoa. Now this could come in handy."

 _ **All right! You've got it. Use this power to protect yourself and others.**_

As the voice finished saying this, something strange happened in the upper-left corner of Shirou's vision. He noticed what appeared to be a black circle appearing and then suddenly rotating before producing a heart in the center of the circle and two short colored bars in the right direction of his vision, one blue and the other green. The heart was mostly blue, though with a small amount of a dark violet. He was surprised by this, to say the least, before the voice spoke up again.

 _ **To answer any questions regarding the bars in your vision, the green bar is your**_ **Health Meter** _ **and the blue bar is your**_ **Magic Meter** _ **. Whenever you take great damage, you lose HP. And you don't want to know what will happen if it reaches zero. As for the Magic Meter, you will find out in due time.**_

"Hey! Don't try to sound mysterious again after saying something like that!" Shirou reprimanded, before suddenly feeling a cold chill as he noticed a black, bug-like creature with golden eyes that reached up to about his knee height appear from the ground. This creature was then followed by two more. "Heartless?!"

 _ **There will be times that you have to fight. Keep your light burning strong.**_

Shirou could not fire up any quips at the voice for he was too busy focusing on the Shadow Heartless in front of him. He then quickly cut down one of the Heartless with three slashed before it faded into darkness. When he faced the other two, they dissipated into the ground instead of attacking him. At the end of this little encounter, another screen appeared in front of him with the following messages:

 **You have gained 30 Lien.**

 **You have recovered 20 HP.**

"Okay, now I know I've seen this somewhere before," Shirou quipped before the screen disappeared again. But just as it did, he felt the chill again and looked behind him to see another Shadow. In fact, he was now surrounded by at least ten Shadows!

 _ **Keep a keen eye on your surroundings and defend yourself!**_

The voice's advice was appreciated, but unnecessary, as the youth was already in a flurry of motion. While he wasn't used to so much physical activity at once, his survival instincts had taken over and made him attack the Shadows in a frenzy of slashes. Before he knew it, he had managed to slay all but one of the Shadows, which was just standing idly in front of him. But before Shirou could renew his attack, the Shadow melted into the ground and started to turn the entire platform into a black pool of darkness. Shirou tried to get out of it, but he was quickly pulled in as if he were in quicksand.

Shirou was struggling and squirming, holding in his breath so as to avoid breathing in the dark murky substance, but eventually had to open his mouth and take a deep breath. With this he realized that he was no longer sinking and opened his eyes to find himself lying down on another platform.

"When I said that I wanted a different transition, I didn't mean falling through a pit of darkness," he snarked. Shirou quickly noticed that this platform was different from the previous ones, for instead of one person laying in front of seven circles containing those close to them, the image was that of several icons, symbols, and crests of different beings from all sorts of stories. But the crest that stood out the most was one that he couldn't forget, even if he tried.

The crest would at first appear like a bar-code, until the viewer payed closer attention to the details. For one, unlike regular bar-codes, this one looked a bit like a mask with bug-eyed lenses. Underneath the bar-code were six numbers: 4, 5, 3, 1, 4, 3; from left to right in that order. There could only be one being that this crest could belong to. A certain passing-through Kamen Rider...

"Decade," Shirou gasped. He was not expecting to see this, though at this point it wasn't as surprising as it should have been. He then noticed rays of light all leading towards what looked like a transparent double door. The youth walked up to the door and obviously noticed that he couldn't open it, which lead him to an impasse. He then decided to search around for something that could help him out, and turned around to behold a chest that wasn't there before.

"Okay, I take it that this has something to do with the door?" Shirou commented. He then tried to open it up, but found that the lid would not budge. Just as he was about to give up, Dark Repulser appeared in his hand again. As he was not one to kick a gift horse in the mouth, the youth tapped the sword against the chest, causing it to open. At first it appeared to be empty, but then another screen appeared in his vision with the following message:

 **You have gained 1x potions.**

Right after this message cleared, the door seemed to shine, grabbing Shirou's attention. When the glow faded, the youth beheld a now solid door made of what appeared to be mahogany. "Well, I guess this means that to open things, I just need to tap it with my sword," Shirou remarked. "Now I know that I've seen this before!" Just as he finished this sentence, the double doors opened up to reveal a bright light, causing Shirou to shield his eyes until they adjusted to the light. Once they had done so, he looked at the apparent exit out of this domain in trepidation before making a decision.

"I sure hope that this leads back to normality," he stated before walking into the light.

* * *

 _Elsewhere..._

The world of Remnant. Only four bastions of civilization exist in this world, the rest being untamed wilderness owned by the creatures without souls, the Grimm. In one of these four bastions, the Kingdom of Vale, there existed an Academy where young men and women were trained to Hunt the Grimm, in the hopes of one day wiping them out for good. This was Beacon Academy, run by one of the most famous people in the world, Professor Ozpin.

Tonight, however, a bright pillar of light shone near Beacon Academy. Confused and wary, Ozpin watched as it appeared and died down, and immediately headed outside to see what had happened.

Meanwhile, at the location the light had shone, a figure was left unconscious in a small crater. Trembling, he awoke and tried to pick himself up. "W-What?" he asked in shock, stumbling as he got to his feet. He was dressed in a white hoodie with red stripes, a green shirt with white horizontal stripes under that, and beige pants. He had black hair, brownish skin, wore glasses over his brown eyes, and was carrying a backpack on his, well, back.

Who was he? Why, he was me. OathToOblivion. ...And that's enough Fourth Wall breaking for right now, so I'll return to just being the Narrator.

"Just, what was that?" he muttered with slight fear. ' _I just...fell through some kind of hole. Now where am I?'_ He looked around tepidly, and noticed something lying in the crater.

"The Mach Driver. Whatever else happened, at least it survived. I-Okay, 'Ma and 'Pa paid good money for this," he said, picking the roleplay toy based on the latest series of Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider Drive, up off the ground. As he did so, he couldn't help but noticed that it felt...weird. But that soon left his mind when something else horrible occurred to him.

"If I ended up here, what happened to everyone else at the convention?!" he realized in horror.

"They probably ended up here too," a voice interjected.

"GAH!" Oath yelled in fright, before whipping around, hands up as if to block an attack. But then, when he saw who it was, he let his arms hang back down to his side. His stare became blank, for he couldn't believe who was speaking.

"Are you alright? Whatever happened to you, it must have been quite a shock," the voice continued.

Oath gulped a bit, before saying his piece. "Yeah...it really was, Professor Ozpin," he agreed. For it was indeed the green-garbed Headmaster of Beacon Academy. He was even clutching a coffee cup, as per usual.

"But, if you're Professor Ozpin, then I'm at Beacon. In Vale. In Remnant." That last part, he muttered to himself. How had he ended up here?

"Hmmm. I bet you're curious how I knew you'd be here," Ozpin stated, walking forward to inspect the crater. "You weren't exactly hard to miss. Yet again, a strange light touches down, and deposits something. Except, this time I've been able to find out what," he murmured.

"I...came down in a light? ...Wait, there have been others?!" Oath realized.

"Yes, actually. One touched down in the forest a few minutes before you arrived. I-"

Ozpin was immediately cut off by Oath's panicking. "If I arrived in a light, then who's to say someone else from the convention didn't too? I gotta find them!" he declared, rushing into the forest, much to Ozpin's shock.

"Wait, come back!" he yelled. But it was too late. The dimensionally-displaced adult vanished into the trees. Ozpin frowned, and immediately headed to his office to see if he could pick up on his movements with his Scroll.

* * *

When the light faded, Shirou found himself upon yet another platform, which was again different from the previous ones. The outer ring's circles contained what looked to be anchors, while the rest of the platform contained the image of a man dressed in a silver bodysuit and golden armor. What got the youth's attention was that the armor possessed fifteen helmet-like faces on it, each one unique, but all too familiar to the youth.

" **The Armor of the Fifteen Warriors**. Combined with that mask, this guy must be **Gokai Silver: Gold Mode** ," he realized, recognizing the Sixth Ranger of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. "Seriously, what's with these platforms that look like dedicated paintings to different heroes?" Then the youth realized something.

"How did I get to this platform? And why do I feel like I just answered some difficult and heart-wrenching questions?" Just as the youth said this aloud, the chilling sensation returned and he soon found himself surrounded by at least nine Shadows. "Oh come on! Can't you guys give me a break?!" Knowing that they wouldn't, Shirou brought out Dark Repulser to do battle once again.

One could not just say that it was as easy as it looked. Despite how it appeared, Shirou was struggling to keep his eyes on every Shadow. The only thing that made this battle his was that for some reason his mind's reaction time seemed to have sped up enough to barely dodge or parry in time. Nonetheless, he managed to slay every Heartless on the platform.

Once Shirou confirmed that all of the Heartless had been slain, he relaxed and took several slow deep breathes. After he recovered, he looked to the side to behold what appeared to be a staircase made out of floating stain glass tiles. Behind the floating staircase, he could see just what the platforms looked like from the side, a big black pillar with beautiful stain glass artwork. "I guess I'll just get up there the old fashioned way, huh?" At this point Shirou was fully willing to accept the strangeness of this unknown dimension, so he just ran up the staircase, though not without caution.

Once he reached the top, he found himself on a red platform, which was quite more different from the rest for it showed two people in the image instead of just one. On the left was a girl with long orange-red hair tied in pigtails, dressed in a black gothic outfit, while on the right was a girl with long chestnut hair, dressed in a flashy women's knight outfit. The girl in black had a large black sword carried in her arms, while the other carried a white one-handed rapier in hers. The youth recognized these girls as **Asuna Kagurazaka** and **Asuna Yuuki** respectively, the **Imperial Twilight Princess** of **Mundus Magicus** and the **White Flash** of the **Knights of the Blood Oath**.

While the image confused him, Shirou's attention was drawn to a warm light that was above in the darkness. He was then caught by surprise when he heard the mysterious voice again, for it had not spoken for a while. Though this time, the message unnerved him.

 _ **The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes.**_

Startled by this, Shirou looked behind him to find that his shadow had indeed grown much larger as he got closer to the light. He was then taken by surprise when he noticed that the shadow seemed to _come off the ground_ and become three-dimensional, while retaining its current large size.

"No problem," Shirou stuttered nervously. "I could take on those Heartless, I can take on a giant shado-!" He cut himself off due to the fact that the shadow's form seemed to twist and turn until it took on a different shape.

A familiar shape.

A _hauntingly_ familiar shape. One that filled him up with fear. Of course, anyone who watched Markiplier's Let's Play Videos would be traumatized by the image of an animatronic bear. It didn't help that this one was size of a two-story house!

"Shadow...Freddy...Fazbear," the young man gasped out in horror. As the giant shadow bear slowly raised to it's full height, Shirou barely heard the mysterious voice call out to him.

 _ **But don't be afraid. And don't forget...**_

Whatever the voice was going to say, Shirou didn't hear, as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him away from the giant Shadow Freddy. Unfortunately for the youth, the platform ended in a circle, and there was no sign of the very staircase that brought him there in the first place. Out of sheer survival instinct he brought up his sword in his fighting stance, though his knees were wobbling greatly.

Shadow Freddy made the first move, striking it's right fist at Shirou, who barely managed to get out of the way, raising up his sword out of instinct. He would have gone to strike the giant bear, but his fear was overpowering his logic. The giant bear managed to move its hand out of the ground and then turned towards the youth with the intent to attack once more. The youth managed to muster enough of his courage to prepare his sword to slash the fist just as it came at him.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. As blade and fist met, Dark Repulser shattered to pieces, as the knock-back sent Shirou towards the other side of the platform, still gripping the sword's handle in his right rand. As he lay there on the floor, he idly looked at the remains of Dark Repulser, looking at it with gloom and despair. "Invincible courage? That's a laugh. It couldn't even stand up to my fear," he lamented. He then looked towards the giant Shadow Freddy that slowly came towards him.

"I'm going to die. I'm going to die by the hands of a giant cartoon character. With no idea of where I am, why I'm here, or even if there was ever a way out of here." Shirou closed his eyes for a mere few seconds before they opened with renewed determination. "Like hell!" he declared as he slowly got to his feet, his right hand still grasping the broken sword. "I'm not going to die here! Not when I haven't truly live yet!" He didn't even notice as the broken sword seemed to shine in his hand, while surrounded by several little octagonal lights.

"So what if I'm afraid. Everybody has to face their fears eventually, and I'm no exception!" Shirou got into his battle stance once more, just as the monster raised its fist to punch him again. "I'm going to survive this, and I'm going to find my sister. And then, we're going to go home!" He then screamed as he ran up towards the fist and swung his weapon at the bear's fist. What neither of them realized at the time, much to Shadow Freddy's misfortune, was that the broken sword had been entirely enveloped by a bright light.

Once the light faded, the youth noticed that the giant bear was much closer to the edge of the platform, holding it's right hand in pain. "I, wounded it? How?" He then looked towards his weapon, to his shock was no longer the broken Dark Repulser, but a new, much more powerful weapon.

The weapon in his hand was obviously a sword, which had a black blade with a silver edge. The two parts were separated by a neon blue light trailing the whole blade. The tip of the blade was strange, as it had an odd silver crown protruding from it. The sword's rain guard was neon-blue as well, but had a golden grille on it for some reason. Its cross guard was also gold, and had been shaped to cover its black handle from both the front and backside's of the sword. Protruding from the pommel of the sword, which identified just what it was for the youth, was a silver chain that ended with a key-chain in the shape of a certain cartoon mouse's signature head symbol, but with the addition of a neon blue crown on top.

"A **Keyblade**?" He didn't know how it was possible for _him_ of all people to be a **Keyblade Wielder** , but just looking at the other-worldly weapon gave him a new sense of hope. That he could, and would, defeat this monster!

"Okay, time for round two!" Shirou then let out a battle cry as he charged towards Shadow Freddy, who had recovered from the shock of taking pain and tried to harm Shirou again. Keyword being try, as the young Keyblade Wielder managed to easily dodge all of the giant shadow's attacks and retaliated rather efficiently. Unfortunately, Shirou started to grow tired due to all of the activity he had been doing without rest, and was slowly losing his edge. And the giant shadow knew that as well.

As Shirou managed to get away long enough for a breather, he looked towards the monster that was slowly walking back towards him in a confident stride. The young Keyblade Wielder knew that if he didn't manage to slay this monster soon, it would be over for him. But it seemed that it's only major weakness was its face, and he couldn't get up there as it had wizened up to him climbing on its arm to reach it. Shirou then did something that he, shamefully, didn't do often. He prayed. He prayed that some kind of miracle to end the battle would occur.

His prayer was answered.

Just as the giant shadow looked like it would have victory, a huge bust of spiraling black and red flames impacted with it, causing it to fall onto its rear end. Shirou looked towards the source of the attack, but only found slowly fading hetero-chromatic eyes, the left red, while the right was green. He filed this information for later and focused on the monster, which was now stuck on the ground and struggling to get up, with its face wide open for an attack!

"Now's my chance!" Shirou cried as he ran with Keyblade in hand to deliver the final blow. As he did so, he heard the mysterious voice from before.

 _ **You hold the mightiest weapon of all.**_

He grew ever closer to the monster, which seemed to not move as if in resignation.

 _ **So don't forget:**_

"YAAAAAAAGH!" The young Keyblade warrior slashed down on the monster's face, causing it to bust into darkness and release a bright light.

 _ **You are the one who will open the door.**_

* * *

It was a short while later, in the Emerald Forest, that OathToOblivion came to a stop. This was primarily to catch his breath, but also so he could berate himself. So, business as usual there...

"What am I thinking?! Just running off into a forest on a wild goose chase, who does that?!" he said to himself. After all, he was somehow in the world of RWBY, Remnant. He'd even met Professor Ozpin of all people! And here he was, defenseless, running off into a forest no doubt filled with Grimm, all over the hopes that somebody else was here and that they possibly knew what was going on.

"But...if whoever that is is as lost as I am, then they need somebody to help them. What else can I do?" he asked himself. He was just about to steel his resolve and rush off, strange noises started going off from within his backpack.

"Woah, what the-?!" he said in shock, before quickly holding his backpack out in front of him, like it was some kind of disgusting piece of trash. "I...did turn my laptop off before I stuck it in there, didn't I? No, that can't be it, I would have felt it if it was still on. What's causing this?" he asked himself in confusion. But something about the noises sounded familiar. He quickly recognized that the only way he was going to find out what was going on was to open the backpack.

Hesitantly, he put it down on the ground, and reached for the zipper. It wasn't even halfway open, when blurs of motion escaped from it and flew up in his face!

"Woah!" he yelled, falling over and onto his back. After grumbling a little in pain, he quickly sat up again. To his surprise, what had caused the noises and had flown into his face was-!

"The Signal Bikes and Shift Cars?! But...Wha...But...HOW?!" he spluttered in shock. For indeed, hovering in front of him were the Signal Bikes and Shift Cars he had bought before the convention he had been at before arriving in Remnant.

 _Flashback..._

 _"Let's see," he mused as he browsed the online store known as Amazon. "If I'm going to be Mach, I need his gear." Self-explanatory there. How can you cosplay as someone without their stuff?_

 _"Which means I should get the stuff he's used on-screen," he continued. So that meant the Driver, of course, along with the Zenrin Shooter, which came with Signal Kaksarn. To get the rest of the Signal Bikes, Magarl, Tomarle, and Kikern, he'd need the DX Signal Bike and Dead Heat Sets, which also came with the Dead Heat Shift Car, Mach's other transformation Bike/Car, as Signal Mach came with the Driver._

 _"Man, why did they have to split everything up like that?" he grumbled. He knew why, of course. Money, dear boy. Still aggravating._

 _"That leaves the Shift Cars he's used," he mused. The Shift Cars Mach had used so far in-show were Max Flare, Spin Mixer, Rumble Dump, and Mad Doctor. Dump and Doctor were fine, as they were the DX Shift Car Set 03. But Mixer was in Set 01, along with Massive Monster and Justice Hunter, Shift Cars that Mach never used._

 _Oath sighed. "Guess I don't have a choice," he shrugged, adding Set 01. But now came the hard part. DX Max Flare only came with the DX Drive Driver, and he didn't want to get that. Too expensive since he was getting everything else._

 _"I'm going to have to get the Gashapon verison, aren't I?" he grumbled, searching it up. Being fair, he admitted, the only thing the Gashapon Shift Cars didn't do was twist their backs around with a flick. No, it was a ratchet joint instead. And since the Shift Cars only had to be inserted into the Driver and didn't do anything on their own, it wasn't_ that _bad._

 _He was still going to grumble, though. But as he looked for Gashapon Max Flare, he came across Gashapon Amazing Circus. Mach had never used Circus, but it had come back to Japan from America with him, so...  
_

 _"Eh, why not?" he shrugged, adding it in impulsively._

 _End Flashback..._

"But...I bought you guys as toys! How did-?!" He had no way to explain what had happened. But in the back of his mind, he couldn't help but notice the resemblance this had to a bad Self-Insert. Too lazy to come up with a reasonable way of getting the powerset, they resort to just having the toys come to life. Mostly with unreasonable BS like using the Void as an excuse in the ZnT ones.

Gradually, he calmed down. After all that had happened, his capacity to be surprised had been overloaded. He looked at the lot of them. Max Flare and Amazing Circus were lazily flying in circles with the Signal Bikes, but the rest of the Shift Cars were looking straight at him.

As he did, Massive Monster growled belligerently at him. Oath frowned. "I have no idea what you just said, Monster, but I'm getting the distinct feeling you blame me for you guys being here," he said in an annoyed tone.

At an affirmative growl, he continued. "Seriously? I'm a bog-standard human. I'm no genius like Harley Hendrickson or Krim Steinbert. I couldn't have brought you here. More to the point, why would I panic as much as I did if I _was_ responsible?!" Monster went quiet at that. Justice Hunter, his best friend and trusted partner, pulled up next to him and started...honking to him through his siren. Oath still couldn't tell what they were saying, but he got the feeling Hunter was trying to point out the rationale.

While they were focused on that, Rumble Dump had turned to look at where Flare, Circus, and the Signal Bikes were. He made an inquiring honk of his horn, drawing the other Shift Cars and well as Oath's attention.

"What is it, Dump?" he asked, before noticing where Dump's attention had been drawn. "Oh yeah, what's up with Flare and Circus anyway? They've just been messing about with the Signal Bikes. Hey, Flare! Circus!" he called out to them. But the two Shift Cars ignored him, continuing to...almost play with the Signal Bikes.

Oath furrowed his eyebrows and scratched the back of his neck. "Okay, seriously? What's up with them? The only thing I can think of is that...they were Gashapon Shift Cars," he realized.

 _'Come to think of it, Joker was going to do something with that one Marvel/Drive crossover thing he wanted to do. The OC would have bought a Gashapon Midnight Shadow because he didn't buy the DX Tridoron, so when Shadow came to life, his AI would have been as...quirky as the Signal Bikes','_ he thought to himself, thinking of his online friend Symbolic Joker, who he had met at the convention before this all happened.

"Okay, I think I can explain it," he said to the formerly-DX Shift Cars. "Basically, for some reason, Flare and Circus's AIs have regressed into something resembling that of the Signal Bikes. No, I don't know why, although I have a few suspicions." At that, the Shift Cars all slumped in the air and let off sad sounds. Oath then realized that while this meant to him that Flare and Circus were simply idiots, to them it was seeing trusted comrades and friends that they had been built with having undergone the Shift Car equivalent of a lobotomy. To them, Flare and Circus were only shells of their former selves.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you guys," he whispered. Although it was a bit bizarre treating them as real people when they looked like toy cars, he had to admit.

He then turned to Mad Doctor. He knew what the Shift Car could do for people, so... "Doctor, can't you do anything? Your healing prowess-" He was cut off by Doctor's sad wail. Doctor could heal injuries, but something like this that went right to the programming was beyond it. At least, that was what he thought. So as his mind frantically sought out something to take their processors off the subject, he realized something he had forgotten.

"AH!" he cried out in alarm, distracting both the Shift Cars in front of him and the group of Signal Bikes, Flare, and Circus. "I forgot! I was trying to find someone in here! They might have been attacked by the monsters that live in here!" he yelled. At that, he pulled out the Mach Driver from where he had unconsciously put it. Which, come to think of it, he didn't really know _where_ that was...

"If you guys turned real, then this must have!" he declared, putting on the front of his waist. As he suspected (okay, desperately hoped so he didn't get killed), the silver belt strap zoomed out around him and fastened to the other side, securing it to his waist. As he went to raise up the Shift Landing Panel though, he hesitated.

 _'Do I really want to do this? If I do this, become Kamen Rider Mach, then this is something I'll never be able to turn back from. Am I really worthy of becoming a Kamen Rider?'_ he thought to himself.

 _"Who cares about any of that?! Just rush forward at Mach Speed!"_ a familiar voice rang out faintly in the back of his head. Oath took no conscious notice of it, but he did noticeably grow more determined.

"This is no time for hesitation!" he declared, raising the Panel up. The generic Standby Tune of the Driver played. As it did, Signal Mach rushed to his hand, and he slotted the Signal Bike in.

 **-SIGNAL BIKE!-**

As the Standby changed to Mach's circus-themed one, Oath breathed in heavily, before saying the words that would change his life forever. "Let's...Henshin!" he declared, pushing down the Panel.

 **-RIDER: MACH!-**

With that, the transformation started, a final riff playing from the Driver. A ring of energy formed around him, resembling a tire. Two panels appeared and spun around him, even as the tire ring started separating into a cylinder, creating the main suit. The panels positioned themselves on his right side, front and back. They split apart into their components, before slamming into the forming armor to finish the transformation!

A mainly white and black bodysuit resembling a motorcyclist's, with blue panels on the legs. Red stripes like the ones on the hoodie going up the middle-left of his armor, and on the center of his Innovate Visor faceplate for his V-Helm. His right arm resembled a motorcycle, while the blank Kourin Signal rested on his right shoulder. A gold stamp that contained the Drive System logo in black was stamped on top of his stripes. This was **Kamen Rider Mach!**

Mach held up his hands to look at them, trembling slightly. "I'm...actually Mach," he whispered. He wasn't sure whether to feel utter dread at the prospect of having to do the fighting he knew was coming, or utter glee at the fact that he was a Kamen Rider.

While doing that, the Signal Bikes all fell into line, and went...somewhere. It seemed to be the same place that he had stashed the Driver. Somehow, he knew that just by thinking about them, he could pull them out whenever he needed. "This is all..." He then shook his head to clear it. Right now, he needed to find whoever had landed here. But at the same time...

"Hey, can I ask you guys a favor?" Mach said, turning to the Shift Cars. Mixer made a sound of inquiry, so he continued. "Can you watch my bag while I go take care of this? I'll call you if I need you," he promised. His response was affirmative honks, and a reluctant growl from Monster. With that done, Mach reached into the bag, and pulled out the Zenrin Shooter, now perfectly sized for his hands.

"Time to go forward at Mach Speed!" he declared, unconsciously hitting the Boost Igniter four times. Well, until he heard it activate as he tried to run forward.

 **-ZUTTO MACH!-**

"Wait, wha-WOOOOAH!" he yelled as he blurred forward in a rush of speed. But even as he did so, something about the Shift Cars had been niggling him in the back of his mind, but he couldn't quite tell what.

Ah well, it probably wasn't important if he forgot.

* * *

 _A few minutes earlier..._

At the very top of Beacon Academy lies the office of its headmaster, Professor Ozpin. After the younger man had left in a panic, he took an elevator up to said office. As he reached the floor, someone was already there.

"Glynda, have you got eyes on him?"

Glynda Goodwitch, one of the faculty members of the academy and one of Ozpin's trusted allies, showed him her Scroll, which was playing a live feed. "Since the moment you brought him in."

"Good. It's unfortunate that his impulse took over his reasoning, but it can't be helped."

As the older man sat down at his desk, watching the younger man running further into the forest, Glynda spoke. "Ozpin... So this is the result of those beams of light? People somehow appearing in random locations throughout Vale?"

Ozpin nodded in agreement. "Indeed. But while I was waiting for the young man to regain consciousness, I got a message from General Ironwood."

Turning his head over to her, Ozpin continued. "Atlas has been experiencing the same beams of light as well, also appearing in random locations."

Glynda frowned at the information. "This does not bode well. If there really are people coming out of those lights... who and why were they sent here? What will the appearances of these new arrivals mean for not just our kingdom, but for Remnant?"

Ozpin was about to answer, when he saw the young man opening his backpack and the strange things that flew out. "Whatever the answer is, I believe it is more complicated than we thought... But I think we're about to find out what capabilities these... Arrivals have."

* * *

"WOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAA-!"

 ***THUD***

"...Ow."

Mach pulled for a bit, and managed to extricate his head from the tree it had gotten stuck in. "What was I thinking doing that?!" he complained to himself, glaring at the Mach Driver as if it had been the cause. He was about to rush off again - _without_ hitting the Boost Igniter! - when the sound of car horns filled his ears. Flying up to him were Flare and Circus. For whatever reason, they had to decided to accompany him.

"Guys, what are you doing? I told you to watch my bag," he said, slightly irked. All the two did was tilt slightly in the air. If they were human, Mach would have said that they were tilting their heads in puzzlement.

He sighed. He couldn't really get angry with them, not after figuring out that they had had some kind of lobotomy happen to them. He could only hope there was some way to return them to normal. "All right, you can come with," he said wearily, holding his hand out. The two Shift Cars immediately leapt to his hand, and he stashed them away with the Signal Bikes.

"...Where am I even putting them anyway?" Mach wondered. It boggled the mind where they went, especially since the suit didn't have pockets. But after a second of pondering, he hit himself over the head with the Zenrin Shooter to get himself to stop.

"I have _got_ to stop distracting myself like that!" he groaned.

Suddenly, he heard some kind of noise. And it seemed to be close by.

"That can't be good!" he gulped in fear. But he had some confidence that as long as he had the Next System, he'd be fine. So he rushed towards the source of the sound, and burst through bushes into a clearing, finding what looked to be a teenager passed out on the ground! And above him stood a Grimm, about to skewer him with its claws!

"Get away from him!" Mach yelled in panic, shooting the Zenrin Shooter straight at the Grimm. The soulless monstrosity recoiled in pain, even as Mach stared at his arm.

"Damn...didn't think I was that good a shot. Must have gotten lucky," he guessed, before returning his attention to the Grimm. It had recovered from its pain, and rushed forward at him. Mach gritted his teeth in anxiety, and rolled the wheel on the Zenrin Shooter, known as the Zenrin Striker.

 **-ZENRIN!-**

The Grimm roared as it pounced at the Rider. Mach countered that with a mighty punch, the Zenrin Shooter used as a knuckle. The force of the punch sent the Grimm flying back...but also did the exact same to Mach.

"Yikes!" he yelped. He flew backwards until he hit a tree, and fell to the ground. Groaning in pain, he hoisted himself back up to his feet. The Grimm roared, causing him to tense up for what it may or may not do. The Grimm feinted at him, but just as he got his guard up, it changed direction and went right at the unconscious person.

"NOOOOO!" Mach yelled in horror. And at that point, some kind of instinct took over. Almost faster than one could think, he raised the Signal Landing Panel, removed Signal Mach, brought out Amazing Circus from wherever-it-was, slotted the Shift Car in, then closed the Panel.

 **-SHIFT CAR! TIRE KOUKAN: BIKKURI!-**

Even as the blend of Circus's sounds and the Mach Driver's own played and the Kourin Signal changed into the Kourin Signal Bikkuri, complete with Circus's clown face symbol, Mach was already placing Signal Mach into the Zenrin Shooter's own Signal Landing Panel.

 **-HISSATSU! FULL THROTTLE!-**

"HA!" Mach roared, firing off a massive shot at the Grimm. But he wasn't done yet. He quickly hit the Boost Igniter four times.

 **-KANARI BIKKURI!-**

As the shot flew at the Grimm, it suddenly split apart into a barrage of explosive fireworks! The fireworks impacted the Grimm one after another causing it to fly away from the unconscious teen in a trail of explosions. The Grimm roared in pain as it impacted a group of trees and laid there prone. Mach coldly walked up to it. Sure, he probably could have left it alone, grabbed the guy, and left. But this was a Grimm. They had no souls, they were just simply monsters.

And Riders destroyed monsters. "You'll get no sympathy from me, you soulless monstrosity. Time to finish this!" he declared. He raised up the Driver's Signal Landing Panel, hit the Boost Igniter, then pressed the Panel back down in one solid block of motion.

 **-HISSATSU! FULL THROTTLE: BIKKURI!-**

Mach leaped up into the sky, twin fireworks shooting up beside him. A theatrical aura surrounded him; lights surrounding him, fireworks going off, the works. As he leaped up, he spun in a vertical circle, suspended in mid-air for a few seconds. But then he fell down, his right foot extended in front of him into a flying side kick.

 **"Rideeeerrr KICK!"** he declared, impacting the Grimm with a showy and fireworks-laden kick. Like most things hit by a Rider, the Grimm exploded and Mach leaped out in front of the explosion. Of course, most explosions didn't result in fireworks.

"Booyah!" Mach cheered, holding up the Zenrin Shooter in success. As he did so, he suddenly felt incredibly tired. And slightly sick from all the spinning. How did Gou stand it?

So, with no other enemies around, he raised the Landing Panel, removed Circus, then shut the panel. A powering-down noise was heard from the Driver, and the Next System armor disappeared in a flash of blue light.

 **-OTSUKARE!-**

"Phew! That was close," he muttered, before turning his attention to the unconscious guy. He was just about to go pick him up and lug him to Beacon, when a wave of exhaustion overwhelmed him. His vision started blurring, and he knew immediately what was going on. Just like Gou, he couldn't handle the strain of the Next System for that long at first.

"N-No...I need...to get...him...out," he murmured. He inched forward barely a foot, before it became too much and all he saw was black. He too fell unconscious, dropping to the forest's floor.

* * *

 _ **OathToOblivion**_ **: CLIFFHANGER! ...Sorry about that, by the way. But honestly, isn't it more interesting this way? Obviously, you guys who have read the first version know where this is going, but...well, stay tuned! I'd put a next time banner, but we haven't decided fully on what to call the next one, so...bye!  
**

 **...I'm still wondering why RWBY is in the Anime section of the site though...**

 **Writ** **er** **Credit (AKA who actually wrote stuff in this chapter) : OathToOblivion, Variable Zero, StrangerDenB4**

 _ **Translation Notes**_

 **Kamen - "Mask"**

 **Mahou - "Magic"**

 **Kaizoku - "Pirate"**

 **Henshin - "Transform"**

 **Zutto - "Much"**

 **Zenrin - "Front Wheel"**

 **Kourin - "Rear Wheel"**

 **Koukan - "Exchange"**

 **Bikkuri - "To surprise"**

 **Hissatsu - "The Finish"/"Finisher"**

 **Kanari - "Very"**

 **Otsukare - "Good Work"**


	2. Chapter 2

_**OathToOblivion**_ **: So, sorry for the cliffhanger last time, guys. Like I said, I just felt like it.**

 ** _Variable Zero:_ Yeah, like that didn't trigger any flames. Sorry if this took too long to bring out, we were waiting for a friend to finish up his fight against a certain dangerous girl, right CB?**

 ** _Catboy41:_** **Yeah yeah, sorry it took so long.**

 _ **OathToOblivion**_ **: Although, part of the delay had nothing to do with him, and everything to do with an argument Zero and I were having, but you guys don't need to know about that!**

 ** _Variable Zero_ : (sits in the corner of woe) Let's just get to the disclaimer...**

 _ **OathToOblivion**_ **: I thought you were over that...**

 **Fine, we don't own RWBY or the multitude of other works crossed over with it in this story, which at this point includes Kamen Rider Drive, Kingdom Hearts, Sword Art Online, Kamen Rider Gaim, and Hyperdimension Neptunia. I still disclaimers are kind of pointless though.**

 ** _Catboy41:_** **Right, now let's get on with the show!...er, fic! You know what I mean!**

* * *

 _ **RWBY: The Scattered Remnants**_

 _ **Episode 02 - An Unwanted Sibling Fight! The Slaying Moon and the Personification of Nintendo!**_

When the new Kamen Rider Mach opened his eyes again, he found himself to be in an infirmary of sorts. He sighed in relief, as this meant that somebody had found them after he had gone unconscious. He had a sneaking suspicion he knew who.

"That was rather foolhardy of you, young man," Ozpin's voice rang out from behind him. Turning, Oath saw Ozpin standing by the bed of the unconscious teen that he had rescued.

"In retrospect, it kind of was," Oath admitted, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, "But to be fair, I was kind of panicking at the time," he added.

"Of course. Panic can get the better of any of us," Ozpin agreed, sipping from his coffee. "I saw your fight against that Grimm, by the way. You fought well, even if it was the strangest way I've ever seen someone fight."

"Forgive me if I doubt that," Oath shot back, before he sighed. "Truth be told, I don't know how I did that. I've never fought before in my life. It was like some kind of...instinct," he said in confusion.

"Well, it's a good thing you are instinctively a good fighter, or this young man may not have been here to sleep in a bed," Ozpin said, motioning to the unconscious teen. Oath got out of the bed he was in and walked over to that one. From there, he proceeded to look at the unconscious person, feeling comfort in that he had saved someone, had been a hero.

"Do you know him?" Ozpin asked. Oath could only shake his head. All this, and he had found someone he didn't recognize. Hell, he didn't even remember seeing someone who vaguely looked like this at the convention!

"No...but at least I saved him from becoming Grimm chow," he said.

"I suppose that's good enough. But I'm still rather curious about where you came from, or where you got that belt," Ozpin stated, finishing off his current mug of coffee. Just as he said that, a number of car noises were heard. The Shift Cars had arrived, flying through the window and landing on the tableside of Oath's bed.

"And about these little machines," Ozpin added. Oath sighed.

"This may take a bit, but..."

* * *

As he opened his eyes, he found himself looking at an unfamiliar ceiling.

It was strange that this was the first thought that came to Shirou's mind, but it seemed highly appropriate. He then noted that there was a beeping sound close to his ear, causing him to look in the same direction to find what appeared to be a health monitor. With the sight of this object, along with the odor of a lot of cleaning products and other substances, he could only conclude that he was in a hospital room.

"How did I get here?" Shirou wondered aloud.

"You were brought here, of course," a strangely familiar voice told him.

When Shirou looked towards the voice's direction, he beheld a very familiar face.

"Professor Ozpin?!" he gasped as he looked upon the Big Good of the RWBY Universe.

"Yes, that's me," Ozpin stated, sipping from his coffee mug.

Shirou's surprise was understandable, considering that someone who is practically a character from a web-series was standing in front of him. Of course, he then thought of a more logical answer. "How do I know that you're the real Ozpin and not a cosplayer?"

Ozpin simply blinked at that. "Well, I've never been accused of not being me before, I'll say that much," he mused.

"Simple. He's the real Ozpin, because this is Beacon, not A-KON," another voice interjected.

Shirou turned to the new voice to find a younger man (though still a bit older than him, he thought) dressed in a familiar white jacket. "Are you supposed to be cosplaying as Gou Shijima? And what do you mean we're in Beacon?"

"I meant what I said. We're at Beacon. No, I don't know how, but I am the one who found you about to get eaten by a Grimm. ...And yes, I was cosplaying as Gou," the person stated flatly.

"Yes, if it weren't for Gou here, you probably wouldn't be here to speak with us," Ozpin cut in. "Now, can you remember what happened before we found you?"

Shirou was a bit put off by Gou's tone, but then complied. "Well, I remember that my sister and I were driving over to the convention. I remember it well because she was pissed off by the traffic jam on route 35."

* * *

 _(Flashback)_

 _"You're not mad at me, are you?" Shirou asked nervously. He was currently walking through a parking lot next to a girl around a head shorter than him dressed in a white hoodie with purple lining and a gaming console theme, light blue and white striped stockings, black biker shorts, and purple shoes. The girl had fair skin, and was currently wearing a light violet wig and purple contact lenses._

 _"No, I'm not mad at you," the girl replied in a voice that sounded much more mature than her appearance let on._

 _"Are you sure? I mean, it is rather hot out," Shirou commented._

 _"Look, I'm not mad at you, 'Shirou'. I only get pissed off like that while driving on Route 35 during jams," the girl placated._

 _"It's not just that," Shirou corrected. "I'm asking if you're mad at me for that bet."_

 _"Hey, I was planning to cosplay as a character that most people recognize anyway. It's just a good thing that you made the bet months ago so that I could prepare for this."_

 _For those not in the know, Shirou and the girl, who is his older sister by four years whom we shall call_ **'Anieka'** _, made a bet where if Anieka won, Shirou would have to pay her $50, while if Shirou won, Anieka would have to cosplay as Neptune from Hyperdimension Neptunia while at A-KON. We won't go into details of what the bet was, but Shirou won, resulting in the girl_ **(sorry, young woman)** _'s current apparel._

 _"I just hope that this heat doesn't get you into a foul mood," Shirou admitted. "And may God have mercy on the poor soul that upsets you after Route 35."_

 _Anieka just sighed. "Will you stop being so melodramatic? I'll be fine. We came here to celebrate your graduation from high school after all."_

 _"And you just want to drink until you're wasted tonight," Shirou snarked back._

 _"Oh God, yes," Anieka confirmed with great enthusiasm. "And boy do I need it!" With that said, the two siblings roughed through the heat towards the convention._

 _(End Flashback)_

* * *

It was then that it hit Shirou like a ton of bricks. "My sister! Did either of you see a girl around a head shorter than me, short black hair, dressed as Neptune from Hyperdimension Neptunia?!"

"No. Sorry," Gou apologized.

A look of anguish came upon Shirou's face at this information, a look that Ozpin was able to pick up on immediately as he placed a hand on the young man's shoulder. "Calm down. Just because we did not see your sister doesn't mean that she isn't out there. I promise you that I am currently putting all of our resources to find her along with any other Arrivals."

Shirou took a few deep breaths before he managed to calm down. "Thank you sir, I don't know what to say. Though, what do you mean by 'Arrivals'?"

Gou shrugged. "That's just what the Professor decided to call those of us who have 'Arrived' in Remnant the same way the two of us did. Falling out of the sky in a pillar of light and leaving a small crater behind."

"Why does that explanation make me think of Doctor Insano being played by Linkara?" Shirou asked rhetorically.

"I'm not quite sure what you're talking about, but that can wait for another time," Ozpin cut in yet again. "Now, what can you remember after you and your sister arrived at this convention?"

"Well, everything after we arrived is a bit fuzzy," Shirou started to explain. "But I do remember jumping after her when she fell into one of those portals. After that, I blanked out. When I woke up again, I was standing on a platform in this wide dark space. A voice was calling out to me before it told me to choose between three weapons, one to keep, and one to give up. After that I found myself on another platform fighting these big bugs. After that I was on another platform opening a door, though that part is the trickiest to remember."

Gou blinked in surprise at Shirou's words. "That sounds like a Dive to the Heart from Kingdom Hearts," he noted with surprise.

"Dive to the Heart?" Ozpin asked, musing about what that meant.

"Yeah, I knew that I'd seen something like it before," Shirou commented. "Anyway, when I got to the next platform I was fighting more bugs- no wait, Heartless- and then I found myself going to the next platform fighting against...against..."

"If you fought Heartless, then doesn't that mean you have a Keyblade?" Gou mused to himself, before noticing Shirou's stuttering.

Ozpin did too. "You fought what?" he asked.

"Well, if it's anything like how Sora's went, possibly a Darkside Heartless," Gou thought aloud.

"If only it _was_ a Darkside," Shirou shuddered. "To understand what it was, you need to know of a man who has a tendency to wear a pink faux mustache." The young man shook himself out of his stupor before continuing. "Anyway, while I was fighting 'that monster', my weapon broke and I was nearly done. But then, my memory is a bit hazy, but my hand flashed with a bright light before I actually managed to damage the dang thing." Shirou brought his right hand out as if in concentration. "I'm not sure what brought it out, but I think that it was-!" He was cut off by a familiar flash of light coming from his hand before it dissipated, leaving behind a very familiar weapon.

Gou was shocked. "I was right, you do have a Keyblade!" he said in surprise, before inspecting it. "Looks a bit like the Kingdom Key," he mused.

While Gou's reaction was understandable, as he was a Kingdom Hearts fan, Ozpin's look of amazement and wonder was downright surprising. "Is it true? Is this an actual Keyblade?"

Shirou was knocked out of his stupor by Ozpin's question. "Um, yeah. How do you know about the Keyblade?"

"Um, well, if I had to guess, I'd say it's the same way everyone who wasn't personally involved in that damn War know. The Legends that are all that remain of the Original World," Gou speculated.

"Indeed. I did grow up with such legends, but very few people in our world actually know of it," Ozpin explained. "And most of those that do simply pass it off as a fairy tale, for almost no one believes in other worlds. Except for me that is."

"Huh, didn't see that coming," Shirou admitted. "Though it does explain why you believed Gou about us coming from another world. But there's still something bothering me."

"Which is?" Gou questioned.

"Well, while I was in the Dive, one of the stations had Decade's logo, in front of countless others," Shirou explained. "I can't help but feel that it's connected to whatever phenomena that brought us here. Not to mention how many people could have fallen through those portals."

"Decade?" Gou repeated in thought. Something then clicked in his mind. "I cosplayed as Gou, then became Mach. Does that mean that Joker's-? ...Nah!" he waved off the thought. But Shirou had heard him.

"Wait, Joker?" Shirou then got got a look of realization. "Hey, by any chance are you OathToOblivion?" _'Why is he using Mach's actual name?'_

Gou blinked in shock. "Uh...yes? How did you know that?" he asked suspiciously.

"You mentioned Joker cosplaying as Decade," Shirou explained. "The only Joker who's a fan of Kamen Rider that I've ever heard of is Symbolic Joker. And the only person I know of who's close enough to him to actually cosplay as a Rider as well would be his online best friend, OathToOblivion."

"That still doesn't explain how _you_ knew though."

"Well, who do you know that's a huge fan of Kingdom Hearts, Sword Art Online, and is close to both you and Joker online?"

"Hi, Zero," Gou immediately said in a deadpan. "Seriously though, bit of a leap to automatically assume I was talking about the Joker we knew, wasn't it?

"It wasn't really that surprising," Shirou admitted. "Considering the fact that this entire situation reminds me way too much of one of you guys' Self Insert fics. Also, if you're going to go by an alias here, then I'm going to keep going by Shirou Wright."

"While I'm sure that this reunion is quite fascinating," Ozpin cut in before Gou could attempt to question that. "I believe that we should be worrying about the other matter that our young Keyblade warrior here brought up."

Gou sighed. "That's true. It's not like we hadn't brought the possibility up when we talked last night. That's why I'm going to go find any other Arrivals that may be out there," he stated, turning away uncomfortably. As he did, though, he noticed Zero's coat. Specifically, a certain shape a few of the straps made.

"Zero, why does your coat have a Recusant's Sigil on it?" he said in a monotone voice.

"Wait, what?!" Shirou looked towards his coat, which he had not noticed was on a chair before. "Agh! How why didn't I notice that before?!"

"Because we didn't think Kingdom Hearts or Xehanort were real before, that's why," Gou said angrily, marching over to where he saw a pair of scissors.

"Pardon me, but what exactly is a Recusant's Sigil, or this Xehanort?" Ozpin asked neutrally.

"Well sir," Shirou trailed off nervously. "That would be a long and complicated story, that involves all sorts of plot twists, plot holes, spin-offs that are actually necessary to develop the plot, all sorts of things that confuse those who aren't paying close enough attention, and a greatly mixed up time-line. Do you have anything important to do today?"

"Well, I have nothing scheduled, so I might as well listen in."

"And done!" Gou said loudly, drawing both of their attentions away. "Sorry about the coat, Zero, but we needed to get rid of the stupid 'X' before Xehanort realized there was a Sigil he hadn't placed."

"Well, for the character that I was cosplaying, that X came from the three good fairies' magic," Shirou replied. "But hey, it never hurts to be too careful. Want to help me explain the entirety of the Kingdom Hearts plot to the good headmaster here?"

Before Gou could even attempt to open his mouth to say anything, another light show shone out from the window, touching down in the Emerald Forest. Gou seamlessly slid into something completely different from what he had been going to say. "Nope, I'll go see what was up with that!" he declared, before grabbing the Mach Driver from where it sat on the desk next to his bed and hightailing it out of the room.

"Hey!" Shirou yelled after him, before Ozpin placed a hand on his shoulder to keep him from getting out of bed.

"You might want to calm down. He did have a legitimate reason to be running out of the room just now."

"Oh, so I guess that that light is another Arrival," Shirou realized as he looked out the window. "And I guess I'm not allowed out until I'm discharged, huh?"

"That would be correct. Though I still wish to hear this story concerning this Xehanort character, so we can talk about that while Gou is greeting our newest Arrival." It was then that they heard a large growling sound, which signaled Shirou's face to grow flustered. "Though I suppose that we can discuss this over some breakfast?"

"Yeah, I just realized that I haven't eaten since yesterday morning," Shirou groaned in obvious hunger.

"Well, I suppose that I can go down to the kitchens and get us a good meal. Just hold on until I get back," Ozpin said as he left the infirmary.

"Thank you, Professor!" Shirou called out. Once he was alone, he then started to contemplate the most recent events. He had experienced the Dive from Kingdom Hearts, somehow became a Keyblade Wielder, and he still had no idea where his sister was. He knew that she could take care of herself, considering that going with the current trend that he and Gou went through, she would have Neptune's abilities. Though his sister never watched any of Rooster Teeth's material, so she was at a great disadvantage here.

Then there was that one thing that happened in the Dive that he hadn't mentioned: the being that helped him against Shadow Freddy. Just what was it and why did it seem familiar. There were so many questions without answers, and he still couldn't see the greater picture behind it. But then again, he prided himself in being a sort of detective, and he fully intended to solve whatever mystery that was behind these strange events. He just hoped that a certain tragic detail didn't come to bite him or any other heroes in the butt when the events of Volume II came to an end.

* * *

 _'Sorry to leave you in the lurch like that, Zero, but I don't want anyone else suffering through what you almost did,'_ Gou thought as he rushed out of the building and towards the forest. The light pillar continued to blaze for another few seconds before dying out. This gave him an approximation of where it had touched down.

"That's deep in there. Considering the troubles I had earlier controlling my speed, I'd have to pretty much walk there. And by the time I do that, it might be the end of whoever just showed up," he said to himself pensively. Before he could think of anything else, the roaring of an engine distracted him. He turned to see a motorcycle pull up next to him. The only problem was, _nobody was driving it._

However, he recognized it immediately. Between the small gun on the front, the similar color scheme to Mach, and its resemblance to Signal Mach, there was only one thing it could be.

"The Ride Macher?" Gou asked in surprise, even as he walked over to the Rider Machine of Kamen Rider Mach. He couldn't for the life of him figure out how it was here without him driving it. Then again, the Ride Chaser seemed to have a mind of its own, and seeing as how the two bikes combined, it was possible that the Ride Macher was similar in that regard.

The only question was, what was it doing here? If he was going off the theory that all of his toys had become real, well, he had never owned the Ride Macher in any shape or form.

"How are you even here?" he wondered, even as he ran a hand over its front. Something about it called to him, even though he had never once driven a motorcycle in his life. He quickly slapped himself in the face, as he was distracting himself _again_.

"I _really_ need to stop doing that!" he moaned to himself, before flipping up the Signal Landing Panel on the Mach Driver. "Henshin!" he declared, slotting Signal Mach in and closing the Panel, even as he hopped into the seat and immediately revved the engine.

 **-SIGNAL BIKE! RIDER: MACH!-**

The transformation quickly came and went, leaving Mach sitting on his bike. Despite having never driven a bike in his life, something within him _knew_ how to drive. "Something very weird is going on..." he muttered, before driving off. It wasn't proper to look a gift horse in the mouth, after all.

That didn't mean he wasn't going to be careful of this turning out to be a Monkey's Paw or something.

* * *

A light flashed, and two figures fell from it. One was a teenager cosplaying as Kureshima Takatora, Kamen Rider Zangetsu/Zangetsu-Shin, from Kamen Rider Gaim, and the other being his sister, who was cosplaying as White Heart from Hyperdimension Neptunia.

"Gah…where are we?" 'Takatora' wondered as he got up and looked around. He let out a 'tch' sound when he saw that his Lockseed Holders had vanished off of his Genesis Driver's sides. He heard movement behind him and turned around…only to find out that his sister was hovering a few inches off the ground, and was looking around with bright red eyes that had power symbols in them.

"Where the hell am I?" she muttered, in a voice 'Takatora' could tell was _definitely_ not his sister's. "Where are Ram and Rom?" She then noticed 'Takatora' with her peripheral vision. "Who the hell are you?! Do you have anything to do with this?!"

 _'That voice-! It's the voice of the real Blanc!'_ the former cosplayer gasped mentally. With his brain stuck on that, it was no surprise that his next words were, "…What did you do with my sister?"

" _Your_ sister!? What did _you_ do with _mine!?"_ White Heart demanded, glaring daggers at him.

"I didn't do anything!" 'Takatora' insisted in return.

"Huh? There's a voice in my head…" White Heart said, putting her hand up to said body part. "You're…that guy's sister? Wait, what do you mean, 'get out of your body?' This is my body, so you should get out, dammit!"

"Why are you talking to yourself?" 'Takatora' asked, before realizing what must have happened. "I see…so that's how it is. Well, since her powers became real, perhaps mine also…" He took the Lockseed off of his Driver, then pressed the button to unlock it. "Henshin."

 ** _MELON ENERGY!_**

Sure enough, a Crack, a zipper that connected to the Eldritch Location known as Helheim Forest, opened up above him, and out fell an orange and green mechanical yubari melon. White Heart stopped talking with the voice in her head and watched in confusion and shock.

"What the hell?" she gasped, wondering what was going on. Meanwhile, the former cosplayer placed the Lockseed back on the Driver, then pushed the grip in.

 ** _LOCK ON!_**

 ** _SODA! MELON ENERGY ARMS!_**

The Lockseed burst open, the melon fell on his head, and orange energy formed a white suit on his body. It was black on the sides, had leg and arm armor that was outlined in gold, and had a black cross-stitching pattern on the arms and legs. It unfolded, creating green armor on the chest and back, and a giant right shoulder pad formed from the orange part. As it unfolded, it revealed his helmet, which had golden horns and a slightly sinister appearance. The Sonic Arrow, a bladed bow that shot energy arrows, appeared in his hands. This was Kamen Rider Zangetsu-Shin.

"Get out of my sister's body!" the cosplayer-turned-Rider roared, charging at the CPU and pushing the grip of his belt in twice.

 ** _SODA! MELON ENERGY SPARKING!_**

The blades on the edges of his Sonic Arrow started glowing, and he proceeded to use it to slash at White Heart. But though the first few connected, after that the CPU got over her surprise and blocked the rest with her axe, before taking to the air. Zangetsu-Shin then unlocked the Lockseed from his belt and attached it to his Arrow.

 ** _LOCK OFF!_**

 ** _LOCK ON!_**

The White Armored Rider pulled back his bow as the Arrow began glowing green, but White Heart lunged down with her axe.

 ** _MELON ENERGY!_**

Before the Lockseed could even finish its declaration, White Heart lunged down towards Zangetsu-Shin. She ducked under the Sonic Volley, a barrage of energy arrows that were shot at her, then swung her axe at him, causing sparks to fly from the Rider as he was knocked back and his belt came off. Rather predictably, his transformation came undone as well.

"Dammit-!" he cursed, as he got to his feet and pulled out his second Driver and another Lockseed.

 **MELON!**

 **LOCK ON!**

Seeing the CPU of Lowee rushing at him, he didn't bother with any theatrics or words before pushing down the Driver's Cutting Blade. A completely green melon descended from the air. But rather than it landing on him, he lunged away just in time to avoid an axe swing, then grabbed it out of the air and threw it at White Heart.

"What the-?" The action caught the CPU completely by surprise as the giant melon slammed into her face, bounced off, and landed on 'Takatora''s head.

 **SOIYA! MELON ARMS: TENKA GOMEN!**

The melon unfolded into samurai-like armor, and a new white suit, with no black on the sides and a less intimidating helmet, formed on his body. In addition, he now held a black sword with a gun barrel jutting out of the hilt, the Musou Saber, and a white-and-green shield, the Melon Defender. This was Kamen Rider Zangetsu - Melon Arms!

"Again?" White Heart asked, seeming slightly bored. She rushed forward and swung her axe around again at Zangetsu, but this time, he raised his shield to block, pressing down the Cutting Blade twice for good measure.

 **SOIYA! MELON AU LAIT!**

His shield started glowing green, pushing back at the axe blow with more force. Zangetsu then brought up his Musou Saber, four glowing lights on the yellow section. He pulled the trigger, and a shot was fired out, knocking White Heart back. In his head, Zangetsu quickly ran through his available Lockseeds in a desparate attempt to deal with his opponent.

 _'Let's see, Mango? No, power vs. power won't end well for me. I'd suck at power-based fighting. Banana is disqualified for the same reason. Let's...try...'_ He pulled out his chosen Lockseed, just in time for White Heart to recover from the onslaught.

 **ORANGE!**

 **LOCK ON!**

The Melon Arms and Melon Defender both vanished, and the familiar zipper dropped a mechanical orange while the usual music played. Zangetsu brought down the cutting blade, as the orange fell on his head.

 **SOIYA! ORANGE ARMS: HANAMICHI ON STAGE!**

This time, orange armor was on Zangetsu's body, unfolding in the same way as his Melon Arms. After it unfolded and locked together, he received a new orange sword, the Daidaimaru. He then swiftly combined it with his Musou Saber to form the Musou Saber Naginata Mode! He swiftly pulled off the Lockseed from his Sengoku Driver and placed it on his Musou Saber.

 **LOCK ON!**

 **Ichi! Juu! Hyaku! Sen! Man! ORANGE CHARGE!**

White Heart and Zangetsu lunged at each other, axe meeting naginata.

Axe won, and Zangetsu was sent flying back.

 _'Okay, bad idea,'_ Zangetsu thought, rolling away from White Heart's subsequent strikes, ignoring whatever it was she said. _'Budou? No, I'd need to be fast enough to actually get away, then fire the gun.'_ He hurriedly dodged away from a rather powerful strike, focusing on running. ' _Ichigo? It's plenty fast, but I'm not very good with throwing weapons...maybe if I got fast enough to-'_ he stopped, as a thought occurred to him, then grimaced when another blow sent him flying. _'That's it!'_ A cloud of dust was kicked up as he landed, while White Heart panted as she caught her breath.

 _'Damn...fighting against something on the inside and the outside at the same time is tough...'_ she thought, holding off the mental attacks from the other presence in her mind. They were fairly weak, but the repeated attacks were slowly becoming an annoyance. At the very least, she thought that the outside annoyance was dealt with.

Unfortunately, she realized a bit too late that she was Tempting Fate, as she heard a noise.

 **SOIYA! KABUTO ARMS: TEN NO MICHI, MY WAY!**

 **SOIYA! KABUTO AU LAIT!**

She saw a figure standing in the dust...and then she felt something collide with her stomach. She looked up and realized that Zangetsu had punched her, but he was already attacking her from a different angle. Then another. Then another.

 _'Teleporting?'_ White Heart thought in surprise. _'No. He's just that damned fast!'_

In the slow motion version of the battle, Zangestu stood back, now in armor resembling that of Kamen Rider Kabuto's Rider Form thanks to the Heisei 15 Lockseed, preparing his next attack plan.

 _'Perfect. I knew Clock Up would do the job. Now for the finisher.'_ But while he was there thinking, White Heart held up her axe, as several orbs of blue light appeared around her.

 **"Gefahrlich Stern!"** she shouted, singing her axe and scattering the orbs around, as they exploded. The explosion had too large of a range, and even with Clock Up speed, Zangetsu couldn't dodge it.

"Gah!" Zangetsu shouted, his Clock Up coming undone, as he fell to the ground. He used his Musou Saber as a crutch to stand up, the Heisei 15 Rider Lockseed sparking as his Kabuto Arms disappeared, causing the Kabuto image on said Lockseed to grey out. _'Okay, that didn't work...speed won't work, I'm not skilled enough to fight power with sheer skill like Takatora did against Mitsuzane, and I don't have anything powerful enough to just overpower her...or do I? I mean that Lockseed was made for Gaim, but it's not like I have any other options...'_ He held up two of his no-longer-toy Lockseeds, one labeled 'K.L.S. - 01' and the other labeled 'L.S. - ∞'. He clicked them open.

 **KACHIDOKI! (OH!)**

 **FRUIT BASKET!**

"Like hell!" White Heart roared, flying towards Zangetsu, before getting bombarded by a storm of mechanical fruit that knocked her back.

 **LOCK** **ON!**

 **SOIYA!** **KACHIDOKI** **ARMS:** **IZA** **SHUTSUJIN!** **EI EI** **OH!**

Thick, heavy orange armor unfolded on Zangetsu, but it didn't stay, as he attached the Kiwami Lock-key to his belt, turned it, and the panels on it and he Kachidoki Lockseed flipped open.

 **LOCK OPEN! KIWAMI ARMS: DAI (DAI!) DAI (DAI!) DAI SHOGUN!**

The storm of fruit flew into Zangetsu's armor, before the Kachidoki Arms flew off, revealing the somewhat flashy and silver form of Kiwami Arms!

...Which had rainbow-colored electricity sparking across it.

"Gh-!" Zangetsu growled, struggling to maintain the use of a Lockseed he shouldn't be capable of using. He turned the key twice, causing more electricity to spark across him.

 **HINAWA DAIDAI DJ JUU!**

 **MUSOU SABER!**

The two weapons appeared in his hand, and he immediately attached them to each other, putting them in Taiken Mode. He used it to parry an axe blow from White Heart, before pushing down the cutting blade three times.

 **SOIYA! KIWAMI SPARKING!**

His sword glowing, Zangetsu lunged at White Heart, who began spinning around with her axe.

 **"Tanzerin Trombe!"** White Heart's axe was faster, slamming into Zangetsu's stomach and sending him flying.

"I won't...give up..." he muttered weakly, as he climbed to his feet. "I can't...give up..." _'When in danger, ignore 'don't try this at home' warnings! Now think, what's the strongest attack I've seen on TV that I can replicate at the moment?'_ An attack instantly popped into his mind. An attack that he, if he weren't in mortal danger that was warping his mind, would probably realize that copying it was a bad idea. An attack that, even if he succeeded, it probably would be a bit more lethal than he was intending.

But regardless, he tried it. _'To copy that...I'll use Decade's world destroying powers...and Ichigō's wind control. Something should work out, even if I don't get the desired move!'_ He held up his two 15 Rider Lockseeds, and attached them to his sword, Showa on the DJ Gun part and Heisei on the Musou Saber part.

 **LOCK ON!**

 **LOCK~ON!**

 **Ichi! Juu! Hyaku!**

 **Ichi! Juu! Hyaku! Sen! Man! Oku! Chō!**

He then pressed down the cutting blade three times...then three times again, and then again.

 **SOIYA! KIWAMI SPARKING! SOIYA! KIWAMI SpArKiNg! sOiYa! KiWaMi sPaRkInG...!**

The Lockseed's voice had become horribly distorted by the third Sparking, as more sparks flew from it, and Zangetsu fell to the ground, a vortex of rainbow energy forming around his sword. He pressed down the cutting blade thrice once again, struggling to his feet.

 **SoIyA...! kIwAmI...sPar...!**

The Lockseed didn't even finish, before the sparks coming from the Lockseed intensified, and it exploded into dozens of small fragments. Zangetsu didn't let that stop him though, as even though he was back in Kachidoki Arms, the energy around his blade hadn't waned in the slightest. He pressed the triggers in both the Musou Saber and the DJ gun.

 **DECADE CHARGE!**

 **FRUIT BASKET: ICHIGŌ CHARGE!**

Zangetsu struggled into a stance, preparing his attack.

"I'm not usually one to run from a fight, but something tells me I should get the hell out of here!" White Heart muttered, beginning to fly away.

 ** _"ENUMA..."_** Zangetsu roared, thrusting his sword forwards. **_"...EL-!"_** And that was as far as he got before the attack blew up in his face.

It was a very big explosion. The shockwave from the explosion was enough to knock White Heart unconscious, her HDD reverting, while Zangetsu was slammed into a tree. The DJ Gun shattered to bits, and both 15 Rider Lockseeds started glowing. Then, the Showa Lockseed broke apart into fifteen smaller lights, which all few off in random directions, the Heisei Lockseed soon following. One of the lights from the Heisei Lockseed remained attached to the Musou Saber, but the rest all went flying.

Zangetsu's transformation came undone soon after, leaving him also unconscious on the ground, a greyed out Kachidoki Lockseed and the shattered remains of a Kiwami Lockseed on his Driver, and a greyed out Decade Lockseed in the ground next to him. The fourteen remaining lights from the Heisei Lockseed all flew off, one curiously seeming to go into 'White Heart', who had fallen to the ground after her HDD canceled.

'Takatora's' sister, now back in control due to White Heart's state of unconsciousness, looked around as best she could. She could barely stand, much less walk. The only reason she survived was because of White Heart's HDD resilience. She struggled over to where her brother was, checking to see if he was alive. She saw him breathing, only barely still alive (likely because of the defensive power of Kachidoki Arms), and sighed in relief...before falling over herself, joining 'Takatora' and White Heart in the realm of unconsciousness.

* * *

 _A few seconds earlier..._

Mach was racing through the forest on the Ride Macher when he saw a rather bright light, heard a rather loud boom, and felt the ground shake, a large shockwave passing through the area and knocking his bike over.

"What the hell?!" He picked the Rider Macher back up, and zoomed towards the source of the noise, before a white light slammed into his face. Inertia kept the bike moving even though his upper body had stopped, so he ended up on the ground again.

"OW!" he groaned, attempting to rub his face through his helmet. Once he realized the futility of such an exercise, he looked around to figure out what had hit him. He saw a shining light die down not five feet from him. Going over to it and picking it up, he saw...

"The Fourze Lockseed?" he said in surprise. It was indeed the white Lockseed based on Kamen Rider Fourze, except the image of Fourze's helmet was greyed out.

"Wait a tic. If this is here, then-" Mach quickly realized that at least one Armored Rider, the Riders of Kamen Rider Gaim, had to be in the area. He immediately ran off to where the Fourze Lockseed had flown into his face from. Two things immediately sprang to his attention. The first was that the area looked like it had been hit by a bomb. The second were the unconscious boy and girl lying in the epicenter.

"Oh crap!" Mach swore, before rushing up to them to check on them. The girl seemed fine, but the boy was heavily injured, breathing heavily, and very pale.

"Shitshitshit! What do I do?!" Mach panicked. Even as he thought frantically, wailing sirens from behind him caught his attention. Turning, he saw Mad Doctor fly up to him, wailing insistingly.

"Oh yeah!" Mach realized, reaching his hand out so that Doctor could land in it. Then, he replaced Signal Mach in the Shift Landing Panel for Doctor.

 **-SHIFT CAR! TIRE KOUKAN: NAORU!-**

The Kourin Signal flashed into the Kourin Signal Naoru, featuring Doctor's red heart-shaped emblem with a white lightning bolt cutting down the middle, even as the blend of Doctor's siren and the Mach Driver's own sounds played. From out of nowhere, Doctor's first aid kit, the Cure Quicker, appeared, racing to Mach's hand. Mach quickly opened it and took out one of the needles that were within.

"This'll work, right?" he questioned Doctor. At Doctor's indignant siren, Mach quickly rolled up the boy's sleeve (he was wearing a suit for some odd reason...) and injected him with the needle. The boy groaned in pain unconsciously, but it quickly subsided. Color started to return to him, and his injuries started repairing themselves at an accelerated rate.

"Phew! Glad that worked," Mach sighed. But now a bigger question arose. How to get these two out? He couldn't go one at a time, else the Grimm might snatch the one he left while getting the other to safety. And he wasn't tuned in to the Scrolls' network, so he couldn't radio for help. What to do...

...

...An idea suddenly struck Mach. "Mixer, I need your help!" he called, summoning Spin Mixer to him. He then switched the Shift Cars out with each other, to start his 'ingenious' plan.

 **-SHIFT CAR! TIRE KOUKAN: MAZERU!-**

Once again, a blend of Mach Driver sounds and Mixer's own synthetic percussion played as the Kourin Signal Naoru changed to the Kourin Signal Mazeru, featuring Mixer's own cement mixer logo. Mach then whistled, summoning the Ride Macher over to him on its own.

"Okay, I still don't know how it's doing that," he commented, before starting on his plan. Well, first he checked that he could seat both of them behind him. It would be slightly uncomfortable, but as long as he didn't go too fast, it would work. He fired two shots from the Zenrin Shooter at the Ride Macher's seat, setting small patches of wet cement on the seat. He then, carefully, placed both the boy and girl on the seat, then hit the Boost Igniter.

 **-MAZERU!-**

The cement quickly hardened, gluing the pair to the seat. Now they wouldn't fall off!

 _'...At least, they won't if their pants don't rip,'_ Mach thought nervously. Still, if this worked, then the only problem would be cement on their clothes. Small price to pay to get these two to safety in his eyes. He carefully got back on the seat himself, then slowly drove back towards Beacon.

* * *

'Takatora' woke up as sunlight filtered into the room.

 _'This room is too bright...wait...'_ He thought. _'Where is this room?'_ He sat up, looking around. He saw that his Sengoku Driver was still around his waist, the greyed-out Kachidoki Lockseed still attached along with what was left of the Kiwami Lockseed. He searched around and found his Genesis Driver on a nearby table, along with the rest of his Lockseeds. Though, he did notice one thing. Instead of the Heisei and Showa 15 Lockseeds, there was only the Decade and Fourze ones.

He then remembered what had happened, and turned to the side. He saw what appeared to be Blanc, in her usual body and in her usual clothes, asleep on the bed. But he knew, via whatever you want to call it, that it was his sister. _'Is my sister in control? Or is Blanc? I suppose I'll have to wait for her to wake up...'_ Then the door opened, and in came...

"Shijima Gou?" the not-really-a-cosplayer-anymore asked, seeing the figure. "No...you were one of the people at that convention, weren't you?"

"Yeah," Gou admitted, walking in. "You all right, by the way? You were pretty out of it when I found you two. You're lucky I had Mad Doctor on hand. Zangetsu, right?" he questioned, looking at 'Takatora''s Drivers.

"Yeah," the Rider confirmed, taking what was left of the Kiwami Lock-Key off of his belt, causing the Rider Indicator, the faceplate that showed Zangetsu's helmet, to return. Though, curiously, the faceplate itself seemed to be greyed out. "...Huh. Looks like that stunt I pulled was so ludicrous that my _Driver_ has to recharge..."

"That's not something that usually happens," Gou noted. "What were you even doing?"

"...I..." 'Takatora' mumbled something that Gou didn't quite catch.

"...Yes?"

"...I-tried-to-copy-a-Noble-Phantasm," 'Takatora' spoke up quickly.

"What." It was not a question that Gou said flatly.

"...I was about to get axed in half, so I went Kiwami and tried to copy a Noble Phantasm. Enuma Elish, to be specific. It blew up in my face. Violently."

"...Well, why would you do something as stupid as that?" Gou criticized.

"My sister was possessed by White Heart, likely thanks to the same hax that made our Rider powers work. She was attacking me. So I retaliated...y'know, in hindsight, using an Anti-World attack was pretty stupid even in that situation. If I were thinking, I would have tried to copy something less lethal."

"Why'd you even use Kiwami when you're Zangetsu?" Gou muttered to himself, before the statement fully registered. "Your sister?" he asked, looking between 'Takatora' and the unconscious girl. "You don't really look alike," he noted.

"I blame the aforementioned cosplay hax," 'Takatora' said. "She came here dressed as CPU White Heart, got possessed, and switched forms in the aftermath of our battle, I guess."

"Wait, so that's Blanc's body, right? But your sister was in her own body, then got possessed?" Gou asked for clarification.

"Yeah, I guess," 'Takatora' confirmed, clenching a fist. "I don't really know, though."

"...Well, that's bizarre. By the way, Zangetsu, you got a name I can call you by?" Gou questioned.

"...Most of my friends call me 'CB'..." 'Takatora' said cryptically. ' _Those friends are on the Internet, but still technically true.'_ "...Though for now, I suppose Kureshima Takatora will do for this situation."

Gou was silent for a bit, before breaking out into laughter. "Ha ha! Hot damn! First Zero, now you? I never have this good of luck!" he chortled. At Takatora's weird glance, he hastily explained. "It's me, OathToOblivion. Wait, but that means that that's PF!" he realized.

"Wait, really? Dammit, I was trying to be cryptic..." Takatora sighed. "Anyways, yeah, that's PF. Although...you said Zero was here too?"

"Yeah, he's standing outside. I'll go get let him in and let you guys talk. I need to talk with Professor Ozpin about something anyway," Gou mentioned, before exiting through the door.

"Wait, Ozpin?" Takatora asked, but Gou was already long gone. Takatora facepalmed, then looked up as another figure walked in. "...Zero, right? Maybe you can give a better explanation of what the bloody fudge is going on?"

"Well to make a long story short, we're in the Universe of Rooster Teeth's RWBY," Shirou replied. "More specifically, the World of Remnant. And apparently everybody that was at A-KON gained some sort of power related to whom they were cosplaying as."

"Well, that's just fantastic..." Takatora muttered, before a thought occurred to him. "Whatever. You came as Kirito, I guess?"

"Well, a version of him that I came to like," Shirou admitted. "As a bonus, my body seems to have gained a physical upgrade, and I think that I'm capable of magic now thanks to this." 'This' was his Keyblade, which he just summoned.

"...Wasn't Kirito already sort-of-capable of magic because ALO? And what's that?" Takatora asked, gesturing towards the Keyblade.

"Seriously? You've never heard of a Keyblade?" Shirou asked incredulously. "Sure this design is a little different, but I'd think that it would be recognized on sight. Plenty of people carry something like this at cons."

"The things I think of when I think 'Keyblade' are the Black Keys from the Nasuverse, which that is clearly not. So please explain exactly what a Keyblade is," Takatora asked dryly.

"Well," Shirou nervously began, as he had never explained what a Keyblade is before. "It's a sort of 'weapon of the heart'. It's not exactly easy to explain, but its main functions are a blade in combat, a vessel for casting magic, and the ultimate skeleton key, for it can lock and unlock any barrier, especially ones with some sort of keyhole on it. And the magic system is quite different from the one in Alfheim, considering that the Square Enix system of magic only requires one word to cast the spell."

"Square Enix... That was the company they based S-Sha from _Neptunia V-II_ on, right? So, it's from  Kingdom Hearts then?" Takatora guessed. A thought then popped into his head. "Wait, if a Keyblade can unlock anything, does that mean-?" He held up the Mango Lockseed questioningly.

"Well, I don't know about Lockseeds," Shirou answered nervously, after he dismissed his blade. "And I'm not very willing to try it out considering their origin. And speaking of Neptunia, I see that PF was cosplaying as Blanc. I heard something about you two fighting?"

"Well, yeah. She was possessed by the actual spirit of White Heart and tried to axe me in half. So I defended myself and it got a bit...violent," Takatora explained, wincing at the last part, as he put the Lockseed away. "My Decade, Fourze, and Kachidoki Lockseeds, and even my Sengoku Driver, all need to recharge, and my Kiwami Lock-Key was destroyed. ...Say, you have menus and things, since you're Kirito, right? Do you have any way of checking how long is left for the recharging time?"

"Wait, I do?" Shirou then proceeded to wave his hand like Kirito did in SAO. And low and behold, the menu screen popped up. "Well what d'ya know, I do have a menu screen. Guess that makes sense what with the Health and Magic Bars in the upper-left corner of my vision. Still can't figure out what the heart stands for."

"So, about the recharge time on the Lockseeds and the Dri-" Takatora was cut off by a flash from his Driver, before the faceplate regained color, indicating that it was finished charging. "...Well, I suppose the Driver itself didn't need that long to charge, but the Lockseeds?"

"Yeah, yeah, hold on." Shirou dismissed his menu before taking the Lockseeds for examination. "By the way, how were you even able to use Kachidoki and Kiwami? I thought that only Gaim could use those. And doesn't the Kiwami Lockseed affect your biology, considering that it's a fragment of the Fruit of Knowledge?"

"Er, maybe the Sengoku Driver style was similar enough that I could pull it off, even if only for a little bit? It was pretty damn painful to use, like it was resisting the entire time, until the Kiwami Lock-Key went boom," Takatora suggested. "...As for the changing body thing...well, it was only one use and the Lock didn't exactly like me, so maybe I'm okay. I certainly hope so."

"Yeah, well I hope you think about that the next time you try to emulate the King of Heroes, or as I call him, the King of Stalkers." As Shirou was speaking, he was scrolling through the Lockseeds' menus until he found a timer on each of them labeled 'Time Until Next Use'. "Well, I can safely say that you won't even be able to pull that stunt with Kachidoki for the next four months, thankfully. Though the Legend Rider Lockseeds will just need a week at the most. And before you even think of asking, I can not use a spell to speed this process up."

"...Only four months? After what I pulled?" Takatora asked, surprised. "Well, I guess it was Kiwami taking most of the strain, but I still expected at least a year or two after that! ...Oh well, you don't look a gift horse in the mouth, I guess."

"Speaking of that stunt, are you sure that was a good idea to use on White Heart? Sure she was trying to kill you, but that was still your sister's body," Shirou pointed out.

"I already figured out that was a bad idea in hindsight during my conversation with Oath," Takatora sighed. "I blame the adrenaline rush." Takatora lied back down on his bed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I need to get...back...to..." He failed to finish his sentence before fading back into the realm of sleep.

"Oi!"

"...I'm trying to sleep here..." Takatora grumbled as his attempt to fall to sleep was interrupted by Shirou's insistance. "...Did ya still need something?"

"Well for one thing, I need more information. If PF was possessed by White Heart, why did she give you such a hard time?"

"PF is much more physically active than I am, and thus in much better shape. Not to mention, White Heart has much more fighting experience than I do, so even in a foreign body, she had a huge advantage. Not to mention, that foreign body was already pretty similar to hers thanks to that cosplay hax," Takatora theorized. "...Can I sleep now?"

"No, because even with such advantages, it doesn't add up," Shirou said in a frustrated tone. "For one thing, to my knowledge, CPUs are immortal, aren't they? So long as they have their powers, they can't grow old or sick. So long as they have the faith of their followers, they can always recover their power and heal their injuries. Am I right?"

"Er...I think it's a case of 'immortal but not invincible'. They won't age or starve (although Neptune would want you to think otherwise), but they will die when they are killed in combat, even if it takes a lot more to kill them, and they can heal their injuries after the battle is over. At least, that's what I thought," Takatora explained. "Then again, my headcanon is probably twisted by the multitude of fanfics I've read, so I could be wrong. Why?"

"Well, I have a theory concerning their powers," Shirou proposed. "If we're going by the Immortal but not Invincible trope, then when they die their powers are passed onto a new wielder, so that there would always be a CPU of their country. But I don't think that's the case, considering that it was Blanc fighting you, and not PF."

"Um...No, I don't think that's how it works. In one of the bad endings of Mk. 2 (Sorry for the spoilers) all the CPUs and Candidates sans Nepgear are killed off. If the system worked like that, new CPUs for Lastation, Leanbox, and Lowee would have shown up, but none did," Takatora explained. "But, you seem to have a theory on what happened to PF, so let's hear it."

"Well, my theory on what happened is based entirely upon something similar in the Kingdom Hearts series. The heart of a Keyblade Wielder got separated from their body and looked for a new host for protection. That host then gained powers and a few mannerisms from that very Keyblade Wielder. But that heart never controlled the host due to being severely weakened. However, another pair of Keyblade Wielders went through a similar situation, with the one turned into a heart having a much stronger will, giving him full control of the host, even causing a few physical changes."

"Er, you lost me there. Could you explain it in layman's terms?" Takatora asked.

Shirou sighed in slight frustration before composing himself. "To put it as simply as I can, the heart of another can enter another person's heart for refuge, but if it's strong enough, it can actually take over the host, along with causing changes to the body to make it more like their own."

"I'm assuming that 'heart' in this context is the metaphysical concept, not the body part?"

"Pretty much, though I think there may be more to it than that in this situation."

"Well, there's not much we can do about it now besides come up with theories," Takatora sighed. "Can I go back to sleep now?"

"Not yet! Blanc has lived for at least a century by this point, so she obviously has the mental strength to take complete control. So if that's the case, why isn't she awake and trying to kill us?"

"...How would I know?" Takatora shrugged. "I don't get into the specifics with magic and why it works. It just does. Maybe Blanc just isn't the kind of person to eradicate someone's conciousness like that." Takatora paused and though for second. "Y'know, now that I think about it, she _did_ seem to be arguing with PF before we fought."

"Really? Well, Terra was able to struggle when he was taken over by Xehanort, but even so he wasn't strong enough to take complete control back. But if PF really was struggling, that actually explains a few things," Shirou mused.

"Explains a few things like...what?"

"When Oath found you, he said that PF was laying on top of you. Considering your stunt with copying Gilgamesh, her body should have been a fair distance away from you. So if Blanc had complete control, how did she get back?" the new Keyblader questioned.

"...Oh," Takatora realized. "She must have gotten control back after White Heart was knocked out by the explosion."

"Yes, but that alone doesn't explain why she isn't waking up." Shirou crossed his arms in contemplation. "Considering that you managed to wake up from that explosion now, Blanc would have woken up as well and gone on a rampage. Unless..."

"...They're fighting each other in there?" Takatora guessed.

"Yep."

"...Based on what you've said, I'm not entirely sure how that's possible, but what the hell. I'm not one to complain or question things like this."

"True it's not possible, but there's one thing that we've forgotten in this equation."

"...Which is?"

"HDD. Can you connect the dots from there my friend?"

"Right, HDD changes personality..." Takatora realized. "Wait, are you saying that they're dividing the two forms amongst themselves or something?"

"Something along those lines. But while she's perfectly fine in the physical matter, until those two can reach some sort of harmony with each other, her mind has practically shut down." Shirou rubbed his head nervously. "We can't know for certain until she wakes up though. In the meantime, we should worry about getting ourselves prepared for future situations, cause I don't think all of us Arrivals will be very compliant with getting together, if Blanc's reaction is anything to go on."

"Blanc seemed to be trying to figure out what the hell happened to _her_ sisters more than anything. Not to mention, she tends to go berserk when she's upset, as I'm sure you know," Takatora chuckled dryly, looking sadly at PF. "But yeah, I suppose you're right...not that I'm in any condition to be preparing for anything..."

"Yeah, sorry for keeping you up. I'll get to Oath to see if I can get some training in. See you later, and get well soon!" With that, Shirou left the room, leaving Takatora alone with his thoughts.

Takatora continued staring at the ceiling for a bit.

 _'I don't know about that_ Kingdom Hearts _stuff but...at least PF's more-or-less fine for now. I can only hope it stays that way...'_ At that point, Takatora finally gave out and fell asleep.

* * *

"...and that's basically what I'm suggesting, Professor," Gou finished telling Ozpin up in the latter's office.

"So this is a continuation of your earlier proposal, is it? Hm...very well. I can't find much fault in it. You do have a valid point. Are you going to enlist their help?" Ozpin asked, referring to the latest 'guests' to arrive.

Gou considered it, before nodding. "Yeah. Zero especially. I'm worried he's going to do something stupid," he admitted, before growing sheepish. "Not that I really have room to talk," he added.

"I see. And the other two?"

"I don't think CB will disagree, but I don't want to put him between a rock and a hard place. Even with Doctor's help, he was still pretty out of it. And as for PF..." Gou shrugged. "I mean, she's basically in a coma. Who knows when she'll wake up? If CB wants to spend time making sure she's all right, I'm not going to stop him. I'll go it alone if I have to," he declared.

Ozpin stared at him for a few seconds. "You're serious about the going alone part," he noted.

"None of us asked for this to happen to us. I'm the oldest one of the four of us, I should be the one to take the burden," Gou said decisively.

"You're being rather brave doing that."

"No, I'm not," Gou said, shaking his head. "I'm a coward, who wants to run away from the problem close at hand that's happened to people I know, and at least somewhat care about."

"For the sake of people who you've never even met who might be in danger. In my view, that's brave enough," Ozpin countered.

Gou was silent. "Forgive me if I don't believe you, Professor," he sighed. "May I leave now? I want to talk to Zero for a bit," he asked.

At Ozpin's nod, the White Kamen Rider proceeded to exit the office, trying to get his mood out of the funk he had found himself in.

...Wasn't really working though.

* * *

 ** _Variable Zero:_ ...Oath, should we, or should we not cut back on the cliffhangers?**

 _ **OathToOblivion**_ **: But it builds suspense! Besides, considering what you have planned, we're probably going to end on another cliffhanger next chapter...**

 ** _Variable Zero:_ That depends entirely upon what you and CB will do when we reach the big branch off. ****Oh and before I forget, the little heart that's next to my HP Meter in Chapter 1? I got the idea for that from YamiChaos27. It will become important to the story later on. I'd just like to say that it was his idea originally, and I'm sorry for starting to use it before asking you for permission.**

 _ **OathToOblivion**_ **: I don't think anyone would have really cared if you hadn't brought that up...**

 **Anyway, see you guys next time!**

Writer Credit: OathToOblivion, Variable Zero, Catboy41

 _Translation Notes (Note: Any words that have been translated in previous chapters will not appear in later ones)_

Tenka Gomen - Authorized under Divine Providence

Hanamichi on Stage - In the Spotlight, on Stage

Ten no Michi - the Path of Heaven

Ichigo - Strawberry

Daidaimaru - Great Orange Circle

Musou - Unrivaled

Ichi - One

Juu - Ten

Hyaku - One Hundred

Sen - One Thousand

Man - Ten Thousand

Oku - One Hundred Million

Chō - One Trillion

Ichigō - Number One

Gefahrlich Stern - Dangerous Star

Tanzerin Trombe - Dancer Trombe

Kachidoki - Triumph

Kiwami - Extreme, Zenith

Iza Shutsujin - Into Battle, Head To The Battlefront

Dai - Great

Dai Shogun - Warlord

Naoru - To heal

Mazeru - to mix


End file.
